Maybe I should have discussed things with the High Queen right away. Dinner was a bit tense. There were a lot of smiles and we had a polite conversation, but it was certainly not relaxing. Food was supposed to be enjoyed. We had a delicious hell boar steak. We served dryad fruits and dwarven spirits. It was all delicious. But the atmosphere was simply too tense.

Liandra had joined us but her appearance did not help. She had a brief conversation with Maeve but they had no way of talking openly. I guess even if I gave them a room they would be concerned that we could listen with magic.

After the meal we retreated to a sitting room. At least I think that is what it was called. Nice comfy furniture with a small table for your drinks. I served them some elven wine from my county.

I had Lucy, Kira, Lily and Iris with me.

I plopped down on a chair with a sigh. "Ok, let's talk. I want to be blunt here, I have no problem with the Dominion. I like it here. I hope we can have a productive relationship. I understand the spying and as long as you don't do it again I am ok."

Maeve studied me. "Your situation is certainly unique. Loriel made you an offer thinking you were a powerful elf. You are a countess, yet you never swore an oath to me. You are also the Lady of Storms, an archfey far beyond my power. The fey have been allies for a long time and have helped the Dominion prosper. Our deal with the Lady of the Forest has been mutually beneficial. Usually I would have approached you differently. I apologise for any offence I might have caused."

"If Amaya says it's fine she actually means it, you know?" Lucy added.

"True. I think we can just leave that behind us and make an actual deal." I said.

Maeve nodded. "I see. So what are you proposing? What service do you need from the Dominion?"

"Honestly, I just want to build my town, introduce a train network, do some trade… I will have my advisors draft something. I have discussed it with them. What is it that you want? Would you be ok with my county being somewhat autonomous? I asked.

"You mean you would officially be part of the Dominion, but with certain privileges. Would you be willing to pay tax? Support the Dominion during a war?" She asked.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Unless the war is not against my morals, yes. I am not going to simply help subjugate people. I could agree to a defense pact." I mused.

"What about hell? You mentioned ancient demon lords. Are we going to be dragged into this war?" Maeve asked. "Your portal is still concerning."

I nodded. "I can understand that somewhat. But I would like to point out that Ashmedai was already involved. Sure, he is not an ancient and his cult was mostly inside the Empire, but if he enters the mortal realm he will be a problem for the Dominion. And his cult only stopped because the portal shifted his focus to politics inside hell. Beira's cult was a problem as well. Especially with her runes."

Maeve nodded. "Our intelligence has been a bit lax. You have certainly stopped a disaster when you defeated Mantus. And Beira could have been even worse. Although her runes remain a problem. What if someone else takes over and uses them? There still does not seem to be a cure."

"True. Josef is still working on it. I admit I have neglected the problem since we took down Beira. But I think it shows how important it is to pool our resources. Together we are much stronger and can prevent something like this from happening again. It is also why I want to build up Iron Rock. We can turn it into a true centre of magic." I explained.

"Which would allow you to control the education of the future elite. And you could monitor them, possibly place agents by their side." Liandra pointed out. "Would the Dominion be allowed to benefit from that intelligence? Or place their own agents?"

"Um, we would have to see about that." I replied.

"We could share intelligence anyway. Remember that Amaya wants a deal." Lily pointed out.

"So you would like to be formally part of the Dominion but with a lot of autonomy? We would share resources, defense and have open trade?" Maeve asked.

I nodded. "Yes. The details would need to be worked out but that about sums it up."

"What about Lilith? She has not been present so far." Maeve said.

Liandra shuddered, something we all noticed.

"I do have a deal with Lilith, sort of. We are mostly friends but working on formalising the relationship. She is an ally and will help secure her side of the portal. I will stand by her if there is an invasion." I replied.

"What about demons visiting the Dominion? While they might not all be evil, they are powerful." Maeve pointed out.

"They need to follow the laws." I replied.

"Maybe we can help with enforcement." Iris suggested. "We need more maid knights but they should be able to handle tougher cases. Transportation could be an issue, since the Dominion is large. The trains will help, in time."

"You would need flying mounts." Kira suggested.

Lucy grinned at her.

"I am not a mount." Kira said.

"Or we need maid knights who can travel fast." Lily added. "Flight spells can help but have limited duration and require spell slots. My wings would allow me to get around quickly though. Maybe we can have a more elite response squad if needed. I suspect the Dominion has its own elites anyway."

"We do have them but if you help with enforcement it would ease the concerns of some nobles." Maeve replied.

We continued our discussions for some time. Maeve was certainly more relaxed now that she had a better idea of my plans. It seemed things were going well, for now.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.